Washington, D.C.---Global
expenditures on advertising grew 3.3 percent in 2012 to $497.3 billion,
a gradual rebound since the sudden 9.6 percent drop in 2009 as a result
of the global economic downturn. Spending has responded to shifts in
popular media with Internet advertising the fastest-growing sector in
2012, now accounting for 18 percent of the total, according to
Worldwatch Institute's Vital Signs Online service (www.worldwatch.org).
U.S. advertising
expenditures grew by 4.3 percent in 2012 and are still nearly a third of
the global total. The Asia Pacific region accounted for the fastest
growth, however, with ad spending there increasing by 7.9 percent in
2012 (excluding Japan, which grew by 3.1 percent). Expenditures fell by
2.2 percent in Western Europe, the only region to see a decline, largely
due to the ongoing Eurozone crisis.
The growth in spending on
Internet ads has been driven by the expansion of social media and online
video advertising. Mobile and social media now account for more than
half of all advertising revenue in the United States, for example,
having increased by more than 30 percent in both 2011 and 2012.
"As consumers grow
overexposed to advertising, traditional forms such as television
commercials, print advertising, and billboards are becoming less
effective," said Shakuntala Makhijani, the study's author. "As a result,
advertisers are turning to more subtle techniques, such as promotional
material on blogs, product placement, and interactive advertising on
social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The distinction between
advertising and media content is therefore increasingly blurred."
The impacts of advertising
and consumerism on all aspects of society and culture are well
documented. Advertising targeted at children is particularly penetrating
and influential, defining their identity as consumers from an early age
and interfering with normal childhood development. Evidence has shown
that children are experiencing increased physical, emotional, and social
harm as a result of consumerism through advertising.
U.S. consumer advocates
continue to call for limits on the extent and influence of advertising,
especially in environments such as health clinics and public spaces as
well as advertising specifically targeted at children. In particular,
advertising in public schools has gained force in recent years and has
infiltrated nearly all aspects of student life.
Advertisers have also
focused more resources recently on "green" advertising aimed at
attracting consumers with claims of improved environmental impact by
tapping into growing public interest in sustainability and the
environment. The number of new products marketed with environmental
claims each year in the United States grew from around 100 in 2004 to
over 1,500 in 2009.
Due to increasing false
claims by advertisers about product sustainability, the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission established updated Green Guides in 2012 that will
allow the agency to take enforcement action against deceptive
environmental marketing. The guidelines discourage the use of general
and unsubstantiated terms such as "eco-friendly" and include strong
guidelines for use of terms such as "biodegradable" and "recyclable."
While regulatory controls
on false advertising such as the Green Guides are a positive
development, true sustainability will ultimately require less material
consumption and therefore stronger overall limits on advertising to stem
its global growth and increasing presence in everyday life.
Further highlights from the report:
- Newspaper advertising has declined significantly, dropping from
nearly a third of all expenditures in 2002 to less than a fifth in 2012.
- The
expansion of television's share of global advertising has leveled off
after decades of growth: it rose from 36 percent to 40 percent of
advertising expenditures between 2000 and 2012.
- Global product
placement expenditures are increasing rapidly, reaching $8.2 billion in
2012, with the United States accounting for more than half of the market
worldwide.
- Retail
companies account for nearly one fifth of total advertising spending,
followed closely by the automobile industry in the United States.
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